In our weekly Mindful Dreams column, Aneta Baranek of the School of Metaphysics is offering free dream interpretations to The Mindful Word readers, as well as articles on dreams in general.

If you’ve ever been curious about deciphering the cryptic contents of your subconscious mind, here’s your chance! If you would like Aneta to interpret your dream, fill out this form. She will respond with your dream interpretation through this column, published every Thursday. Aneta would love to receive more comments for the dreams interpreted. If you can relate to a dream posted here or have any insights to add, you can post them as comments to the interpretation, or email her at aneta@themindfulword.org.

Intro

DREAM

I’m in an arena of sorts, sitting next to an ex-boyfriend who died last year. Several of my other friends are there, too. Soldiers come in and take over, and one hits Andy (my ex) with the butt of his gun. Some of us are allowed to go to the nursery to check on our children. I can’t find my daughter, Meghan (I don’t have a daughter named Meghan).

We’re allowed to get food, so I go get chocolate donuts for a few of us. A few of us manage to escape—it’s night, my friend Becky is with my son’s aide Jeff and we hitch a ride in a carriage with a sidecar that I’m stuck riding in.

We get to a house where many people are hiding, but they tell us we can’t stay. We’re in this old-fashioned town now and it’s being torn apart. Then we’re back at the arena, but it looks like Howard’s department store and Harry Potter’s trying to save us.

The soldiers have a group of people all tied up that they’re going to burn, plus a dozen children lined up on the altar ready to be killed. My Andy is up there, although I still haven’t found Meghan. They set all the people on fire and in an instant they all become sparkling dust.

I weep uncontrollably, then wake up and I’ve been upset ever since.

Renae

DREAMER: Female, 52, U.S.

MAIN SYMBOLS:

Arena — a place of connected mind/consciousness

Ex-boyfriend — familiar inner aspect of the dreamer from the past

Friends — familiar aspects of the dreamer

Soldiers — disciplined aspects of the dreamer

Gun — a tool for change

Children — developing ideas of the dreamer

Daughter — familiar outer developing aspect of the dreamer

Food — knowledge

Carriage — vehicle for the physical body

House — state of mind

Town — a place of connected mind/consciousness

Harry Potter — imagined aspect of the dreamer

Altar — place of sacrifice

Fire — expansion

INTERPRETATION

Hello Renae,

Thank you for sharing this quite dynamic dream. It speaks to a transformation of sorts that you’re either in the process of going through or underwent a day or two prior to having this dream. Dreams reflect our state of mind from 24 to 48 hours before having the dream.

The dream contains many layers of aspects of the dreamer—you. We have an inner aspect from the past (ex-boyfriend), we have children/a daughter (developing aspects) and we also have soldiers (disciplined aspects).

People in a dream, universally, symbolize qualities of the dreamer. We perceive in others what’s within us; therefore, everyone is a reflection of us. After assigning each of the main aspects specific characteristic that they represent, a clearer picture and message emerge in relation to the dream.

The message conveys that there’s an overall sense of you being taken over by the soldiers (the disciplined aspects of you) in your dream. This takeover is forced through the use of guns, killing and restraining. And then there’s the fire (expansion) that consumes the little children.

APPLICATION

Dream messages aren’t literal. They’re symbolic. This dream is telling you that there are ways in which you view discipline as a forced act coming from outside of yourself.

Perhaps, a day or two prior, you were required to call upon the disciplined parts of yourself to accomplish something and it all felt rushed and violent in nature. Due to this “hostile takeover” by the disciplined parts of you, you experienced expansion and forced change. You did get to know yourself better, but it was quite an uncontrollable experience.

If this were my dream, I’d look at ways in which I view discipline and structure. The dream may represent just one occurrence of you feeling overtaken by discipline, or it might be reflecting your habitual way of approaching the idea of discipline. Only you know the answer to this.

Discipline is a very valuable attitude to have. It leads to change and evolution, and your dream does confirm that. Therefore, it’s your perception of discipline that needs to be upgraded. Instead of seeing it as a forceful act, perhaps you could see it as a productive step towards change and expansion?

While pursuing her Doctor of Divinity degree, Aneta continues her research and study of dreams. She also holds a Master’s degree from DePaul University in Computer Science. She has been serving as a spiritual teacher through the School of Metaphysics for the last six years. She currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri, where she directs one of the branches of the School of Metaphysics. Learn more about Aneta at onwholeness.com and the School of Metaphysics at som.org.

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